Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim Review

The Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim is a rare classic. I was fortunate enough to get tipped off about them before everyone realised they were awesome and got it for about £15/$25.

Since then demand and prices for the camera have rocketed because they are no longer made. If you have one hold on to it, because its a bit of a collectors item!

If you didn't manage to get hold of one, you still have the option of the Superheadz Black Slim Devil, which is essentially the same camera!

Ease of Use

I've burned about 3 - 4 films (color and Black & White) with this camera and its so much fun to use. It's light-weight and a nice size to slip straight in your pocket.
Its easy to use too, with no differences to a normal point and shoot 35mm camera. Loading can be a little bit tricky as the take up spool only has one tooth, but its more of a case of just trusting it rather than it being rubbish.

Taking shots and advancing is extremely easy, and rewinding is relatively swift albeit a little bit on the fiddly side.

Getting results

You won't have many major problems getting decent results from this camera. I've found it extremely forgiving in all conditions. Just slap some 400asa in there and you are good to go. Developing is also straight forward with it being 35mm, just take it to your local lab or send it off, and of course you get far more shots that you would do with 120 film.

Pros

This camera has a lot to offer considering how simple it is. Its easy to use, light-wieght and has an enormous width on the lens.

It is also extremely consistent and always produces good shots. You may see this as a downside but its definitely nice to have a camera in your collection that you can rely on!
Cons

There are always downsides to a camera, and the Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim is no exception. The shutter button is stupid and extremely sensitive, so expect to pull it out of your pocket having taken a photo inside there now and again.

Rewinding is also extremely fiddly and sometimes is just feels like the thing is going to fall apart in your hands. Saying that though I have dropped it a few times and it still works fine.

Conclusion

In my opinion the Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim is a fantastically fun camera to use. Its size and weight makes it an ideal camera for day to day use, with the only drawback being the fact that the shutter is far too sensitive.

Overall score:

9/10

The Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim is an easy to use, light-weight camera that is very forgiving and makes for some very interesting shots.